


Setting the Sky Ablaze

by mxxxxj



Category: Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: /shrug, Alternate Universe - College/University, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm american idk how european schools work, Joxter and snufkin have a strained relationship, Lil my isn't snufkins sister, M/M, Modern AU, Trans Snusmumriken | Snufkin, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-05-20 14:35:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19378690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mxxxxj/pseuds/mxxxxj
Summary: Snufkin was a strange man. He grew up in a strange house, in a strange neighborhood, with a strange family. He had a strange accent and strange tendencies.Moomin found it charming.---This fic is dedicated to my QPP Lily. Thanks for always supporting me in everything I do. You're the Moomin to my Snufkin.





	Setting the Sky Ablaze

**Author's Note:**

  * For [seven_x_seas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seven_x_seas/gifts).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk its some vaguely 2010s time. Most people have smartphones. /shrug  
> do with this information what you will  
> \--  
> Journal fics are really cute and one of my favorite authors did this recently and it highkey inspired me to write this one soooo enjoy!

_Monday, August 14th_

My name is Arthur T. Moomin Jr., but I insist on being called just Moomin. My father calls me Junior and it can get pretty embarrassing sometimes, but I know he never means to damage my ego.

Today was my first day of college. I'm an English major with a focus on creative writing and I want to work in a library when I graduate! I get plenty of practice shelving all of the books my father writes or owns. He keeps them in piles when he leafs through the pages and then leaves them on his desk. I come through when he's done and reshelve them. There's something therapeutic about putting everything in its place.

It was also my first day of therapy for my anxiety (which Mamma signed me up for). My therapist gave me this notebook and told me to write about my day every night I felt like up for it. Something or other about "Helping pinpoint the negative emotions' causes" and "Reflecting on the positive experiences". I've never really written in a journal like this before today, I've just never had an incentive to. I'm not sure what's deemed too personal and what's too formal.

I suppose I'd best write about my day now since that's the whole point. It was really strange, but I'll get to that in a bit. Classes were fine and all, just a bit monotonous. Gathering syllabi, mapping out the campus, and avoiding making eye contact with strangers as I walked.

I saw Sniff again! He's a friend who used to live in the house to the right of mine. We hung out a lot in middle school and because we were both timid, nerdy, and often picked on. He has a nervous tick, where he kind of shakes his head a bit and screws up his nose- that's where the nickname Sniff came from. It used to be something people would mock him with, but he started going by it in high school.

He waved and yelled out to me as I was walking back to my car.

"Hey Moomin! Wait up!" He jogged over to me, all out of breath. He was wearing a comically large university food crew teeshirt that hung off his frame like a dress. "It's so nice to see you again!" He breathed, wiping his forehead with the back of his arm.

"Hello, Sniff! It's nice to see you too." I replied, adjusting my glasses. I pressed my heel into a bit of loose cement on the sidewalk and it rocked beneath my foot. "I haven't seen you since you moved out of the house next door."

Sniff shrugged. "My parents didn't think we needed that much space. We ended up moving into one of the apartment complexes out here!" He rubbed his upper arm in an awkward, self-conscious way. "And it's closer to my dad's shop. How has your family been?"

"Oh, you know. Pappa has been writing his memoir, and he's been accruing more books than we have shelf space for. Mamma's been making floral arrangements in her shop and gardening in our yard as usual." I waved my hand dismissively. "And My's been good. She's also on campus somewhere, I haven't seen her today though."

Sniff tilted his head and his dark bangs fell in his eyes. "I think I saw her hanging out with the other theatre majors just around here earlier, but I think they all went their separate ways." He shook his head, rocking forward onto his tiptoes. His watch beeped. "Uh oh, my break's over. Well, I hate to cut it short but I need to get back to work. Text me or something!" And with that, he jogged back off again.

As I started walking back towards my car, I wondered if I should call My and see if she needed a ride. Myrna is my older sibling my parents adopted when I was 10. She certainly doesn't look older than me as she's only 4'11", but her personality more than makes up for what she lacks in height. I remembered her saying something along the lines of "Only dorks call. If you text me and get no answer, that's when you call."

So, I instead opted to text her, I'm already enough of a dork. She said she didn't need a ride, because she had practice for her play. I shrugged and stopped at a vending machine for a water bottle before continuing to the student parking lot.

And that's when the day went from boring to very strange.

There was some kind of yelling coming from the parking lot. Despite Mamma telling me to stay away from that kind of stuff, I, of course, have an innate curiosity. I kept walking calmly, rolling the hem of my sweater between my forefinger and thumb. I tried to carry myself with some sort of confidence, but it's kind of difficult when you're chubby, you wear glasses, and you've got a mess of blonde curls sitting atop your head. 

I glanced over at what was happening. There was someone leaning against an old Volkswagen bus as he was getting chewed out by the campus police. She was yelling about him not having any right to be here without a student parking permit and how he could get arrested for loitering. Suddenly a very foolish idea popped into my head. I very calmly made my way over towards them and nonchalantly said "Oh hey! There you are. I was looking for you in the other parking lot!"

(God forbid Mamma or Pappa end up reading this. They'll have my ass!)

The man that was leaning against the car was no older than I was, with ruddy brown hair in a braid under a baseball cap. It seemed to be strawberry blonde in the afternoon sun. He was wearing a weird t-shirt under a tacky, faded Hawaiian shirt. On the bridge of his nose sat a pair of circular sunglasses.

He kind of glanced at me with a perplexed expression before he realized what I was doing. "Oh! Yes, my bad." He grinned, crossing his arms. His accent was one that I'd never heard before. 

I turned towards the campus officer and felt my palms grow sweaty. "You'll have to excuse him. He was just here to pick me up." I'd never done anything this gutsy before. I felt like I might explode from nerves, but I did my best to keep a poker face.

The policewoman frowned and sighed. "That's fine. Have a good day." After that, she walked back to her cruiser and drove off. I nodded kind of awkwardly, about to walk away before the guy grabbed my arm.

"You're pretty good. Thanks for saving my hide," He said in a silky, even tone. "I really appreciate it. I feel like I should pay you back somehow." A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

I blinked at him, adjusting my glasses. "Oh, um... It was nothing. I just thought I should help you out." I rubbed the hem of my sleeve between my fingers nervously.

He laughed softly, letting my arm go. "Have you had dinner yet? It's the least I could do to pay you back." He took his sunglasses off and hung them on the collar of his t-shirt. His eyes are very dark brown. The color reminds me of espresso.

I shook my head, feeling my face flush. I was wildly nervous and quite sweaty. "I don't know, my mother might worry, especially if I go to dinner with someone I don't know."

He nodded, extending his hand to me. "I'm Snufkin. I'm 18, and I live in this van here." He slapped his other hand against the rusty door. "Now you know me."

I awkwardly shook his hand. It was really warm against my clammy skin. "I'm Moomin. I suppose I could tell Mamma I'll be out tonight..." I fished my phone out of my pocket and texted her. 

He spun his keyring around a finger, smiling. His teeth were all crooked and the corners of his eyes crinkled fantastically. "I'll take you to any place nearby you can think of."

"McDonald's is right down the street, that'd be fine," I was still sweating quite a bit. I wasn't sure how to react in this situation so I was taking it step by step.

He struggled with the passenger side handle for a bit before the door finally opened. "Right then! We'll be off." He walked around to the drivers' side and climbed in.

I ducked into the car, buckled my seatbelt, and looked around. He had cleared the back seats out in favor of a mattress with faded striped sheets, and a few cabinets. On the top of the cabinets sat a record player, a bowl of fruit, a humidifier or something like that, and an incense holder. There was a milk crate full of records on the floor next to the record player. Behind the mattress was another crate, but this time with neatly folded t-shirts. A shower bar was hanging from the roof. Hanging from the shower bar was some patchwork curtains and a few button-ups (mostly Hawaiian shirts). It smelled vaguely like incense smoke and musk, as well as slight minty tones. I looked over to him as he cranked the engine.

"Mind if I play some tunes?" He asked, digging through a box of cassettes that was in between the passenger and driver's seats. I shook my head. He grabbed a cassette labeled  **S M B** in big bold letters and popped it in the tape deck on the radio. It sputtered a bit before some sweeping, echoey synths began. He pulled out of the parking lot and started towards the restaurant. As the song progressed, he sang along and he's good at singing! I was thoroughly impressed.

"You sing very well!" I exclaimed, grinning. 

Snufkin smiled. "I'm a musician and I work at a church nearby. I'm not religious but it pays well enough when I'm in town." He turned the radio down. "So, Moomin. That's an interesting name. What do you do?"

"So is Snufkin," I remarked, laughing. "I'm an English major. I write but I mainly want to work in a library."

He raised a brow at me, an expression I couldn't quite grasp was on his face. "Really? Very interesting. I could see it, I suppose." He shrugged. "I think I'd surely die of boredom if I was a librarian."

I frowned. "I think it's soothing to organize things." I looked out the window, holding my chin in my hand. "I find the world is too chaotic, so I like to add a little order to things."

I heard him chuckle. "That's quaint." I'd never heard anyone use that word in regular conversation.

He pulled into a parking spot and we walked into the McDonald's and ordered. We sat at one of the booth tables in the corner. He took five ketchup packets and arranged them in a pentagon on the table. He also insisted I gave him my straw wrapper, so I obliged.

"Here, hold out your hand," He said, waving one of his hands about. I held out my palm and he pressed the little paper star into it. "There you are." I couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks. What's it mean?" I adjusted my glasses, gingerly holding it between my finger and thumb. I didn't want to ruin it.

He tapped his chin thoughtfully, humming. "It means whatever you may want it to."  He replied, grinning. He stood up and fetched the tray of food. He got a salad, which made me smile to myself. We ate in relative silence, besides the few comments he made about the songs that were playing over the loudspeakers. 

He's very strange but in a charming way. Every mannerism he has makes me feel refreshed. He's very different from most people I know, and he doesn't seem to be afraid of being perceived as odd. I admire that.

Anyways, after all of that, he drove me back to the parking lot. He pulled out a pen from his pocket and wrote his name and number on the bottom of the receipt. He tore it off and handed it to me.

"You seem cool. If you ever want to hang out, hit me up. We can text, but I prefer calling," He said with a nonchalant shrug. "My phone is kind of ancient." He pulled out a super tiny green phone. It was no bigger than the palm of his hand. He pocketed it again before getting in his van and driving off.

It was a good day, but it sure did leave me feeling very unsure about a lot of things. When I got home, Mamma asked me about it but I brushed it off as hanging out with friends. Which... I guess is partially true.

I don't really know.

I think My is yelling for me so I'm going to end it here. Hopefully putting this inside my desk will keep prying eyes away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snufkin's shirt: https://i.redd.it/bopgr5fii1a21.jpg  
> Snufkin's phone: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/G/01/wireless/detail-page/pantech-pursuit-att-green-keyboard-sm.jpg (lol I had one of these as a kid, I loved it)


End file.
